


Blue Running Through You

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Andrew fluff/angst because I'm stuck on him, Death of Lash, F/M, Science? Magic? Who knows?, author pretends to know how superpowers work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 07:06:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5575924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andrew is free and learns to adjust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue Running Through You

Daisy was scared. Sensing and targeting the vibrations of an ant in a bag of sugar had been an exciting new refinement of her abilities. It got her to thinking, if she could make an ant collapse in on itself without disturbing its surroundings, maybe she could apply the same method to the Hydra demon. She was excited about her plan until she got Lash in front of her. It hadn’t occurred to her to be scared until then. He looked sick. It was because the Hydra demon (they knew very little about the creature that had followed them through the portal; demon was the best descriptor they could come up with) was visible under Lash’s skin. It would appear occasionally as little dark worms trying to wriggle free. Then there would be a violent blue flash and the demon would be invisible again. It was as though Lash was trying to channel his powers inward to kill the demon but all he could do was suppress it. It took all his energy to do that much. He was subdued; passive. That’s what made her scared. If Lash was looking fragile, what was happening to Andrew? What if she hurt him in the process? What if her plan to kill the demon provided a pathway into her instead? If her plan worked, would she get Andrew back or would they be stuck with Lash?

But she couldn’t dwell on these questions forever, and she didn’t want to spend any more time thinking of a better plan. Everyone was getting anxious, knowing Lash was containing the Hydra demon, and May needed to know if they could save Andrew, even if she was being professional and not letting on. Daisy could sense Andrew in there somewhere, like a faint heartbeat, underneath the angry whirring and whooshing of the demon. Daisy concentrated on the demon. She was doing _something_ to it. Could something that wasn’t solid shake apart?

It was expanding, sticking to Lash’s insides, grabbing anything it could. Daisy followed it until it and Lash were one body, one weight. Lash roared. A crack formed on his head and splintered into all different directions until his body was divided into portions by hundreds of jagged lines. He dissolved into the cracks slowly, disappearing in such a way that it wouldn’t be noticeable but for the noise. She felt Lash and the demon lighten until nothing was left. Andrew, himself again, collapsed onto the floor of the tank. She rushed over to him, May and Mack at her heals (she’d been unable to order either of them out of the room). She crouched next to him and looked for a pulse.

She couldn’t find one. She kept looking anyway, thinking maybe she was doing it wrong even though she _knew_ how to find a pulse. He was absolutely still. So was May. Mack was ordering a med team down here through the comms.

Then a blue line of shadowy light appeared on his forehead like the crack on Lash’s head when Daisy destroyed him, and shimmered all the way down him. It was as though he was being scanned, which the tank they kept him in could do but it didn’t look like that.

The light disappeared and Andrew’s chest rose. He was breathing again. Daisy sighed in relief and Mack pulled her and May aside as the med team rushed in. May kept her eyes trained on Andrew but she grabbed Daisy’s hand and squeezed it in thanks. She kept Daisy’s hand in hers until they were out of the room.

Andrew didn’t wake up right away. The doctors did a blood test; after he deleted the last one they hadn’t had the chance to do another one until now. He was, in fact, Inhuman, and not simply a host for some other entity. They did scan after scan to make sure there was nothing actually wrong with him. There wasn’t. All they could do was wait for him to wake up.

They put him in Joey’s old room, just in case. They didn’t know what abilities he would wake up with and they didn’t want to risk anyone or anything in the medical bay. If May had any arguments against quarantining him she swallowed them. Daisy wanted to argue; after all that time with Lash she wanted to put Andrew someplace more comforting. But May insisted on staying in the room with him and Mack put up only a little bit of a fight before caving.

 

Melinda was nervous. How much of what Lash did would Andrew remember when he woke up? Would people be able to separate the two? There was so much she hadn’t anticipated until now because she’d been caught up in saving him, or not saving him because that wasn’t the mission. Even if he didn’t remember what happened, she would, and everybody else would. Should she keep it a secret? They’d have to leave SHIELD for her to be able to do that, and even then he’d know she was hiding something from him. But they’d probably have to leave SHIELD anyway. If he remembered he’d want to atone, even if he understood that he hadn’t been in control of his actions. But there were plenty of people here who probably didn’t understand that; not really. And they probably wouldn’t want him to stick around.

Or maybe that was just Melinda. She wanted to leave SHIELD, at least for a little while. She wanted to take Andrew some place quiet where they could catch their breath- again- and come to terms with everything that had happened. She didn’t want Andrew to have to stay here and see the looks people would give him; those concerned, sympathetic, frightened, uncomfortable looks. Everyone would tiptoe around him and try to make him feel like everything was back to normal, which obviously it wasn’t if they were behaving like that. Everything wouldn’t go back to normal if they left, but it would be easier on them and everyone else.

It was late, but people still passed by the window and peered in to check on his progress occasionally. There were always a few who had to work all through the night. She’d been pacing around the room the whole time. Finally she started to feel tired. She pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down.

This wasn’t the worst room to be kept in. It wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just so bare and sterile. She couldn’t imagine it bolstered Joey’s confidence much when he stayed here. It was starting to drive Melinda nuts how white the room was. She expected the walls to spray some sort of sedative into the room while a computer voice talked to her as she passed out. Her bunk wasn’t the most charming place either but at least it had personal touches that Andrew would recognize. It felt cold, too. She knew it wasn’t; the temperature had been just fine when stepped in. It felt like it should me cold; it made her shiver.

Andrew started to stir. She jerked up in her chair and leaned forward a little, taking his hand.

He opened his eyes. His face was completely neutral as he blinked at the ceiling a few times, still too tired to understand the meaning of his surroundings. He shifted his gaze to Melinda and started to smile. Then his eyes darted around the rest of the room and his expression changed as he remembered everything that led to him being there. He met her eyes again, scared and pleading. “Melinda-“

“It’ll be okay.”

“I… all those people…”

Melinda took both his hands in hers and held them tight. “That wasn’t you. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m sorry.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t ask why or tell him not to be sorry. She knew why he was sorry even though he didn’t have to be and telling him not to be wouldn’t help. She ran her hand up and down his arm. “It’ll be okay.”

He didn’t look like he believed her. She didn’t think he was listening, which was fine, since she wasn’t saying anything useful. “I don’t know what to do,” he said.

“We’ll figure it out.”

They slept there instead of in Melinda’s room because Andrew didn’t want to face anyone yet. Melinda alerted Daisy and Mack that Andrew was awake and promised that they’d talk in the morning. It was a tight squeeze on the little bed but they managed. She spooned him and kept her fingers linked with his. She had dimmed the lights but it was still hard to sleep. Her anxiety hadn’t died just because he’d woken up. He didn’t sleep either. He was perfectly still the entire night except for the involuntary twitch of a finger. He could feel his heart pounding against their joined hands.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, not wanting to startle him.

“I don’t know. Are you?

“We will be.”

 

Andrew didn’t feel like a psychiatrist anymore and Mack wasn’t about to let him continue in SHIELD as one. He wasn’t about to kick him out, either. Way back when Andrew left SHIELD the first time he recommended the psychiatrist who replaced. She quit a few years later for similar reasons, but they’d liked her and she’d liked them, so Mack called her back to help Andrew and a few other new Inhumans. Her approach was different from Andrew’s; more of a kick in the ass with humour. She wasn’t unkind. It was the approach that worked best on him and he thought it would work just as well on many of the agents.

She was to assess his mental and emotional state while Daisy assessed and honed his capabilities as an Inhuman once those capabilities presented themselves. They didn’t that day. Andrew spent the day avoiding everyone in case his powers were explosive or in case Lash was still hiding in him somewhere. He probably appeared cowardly to the others the way he was hiding. He was being a bit of a coward. He was scared of what was happening to him; scared that he was still being possessed by that thing; scared that he’d already lost everyone. Even if he didn’t need to be concerned about all those things he’d be scared to face anyone after what he did. Mack and Daisy were far too understanding, yet they didn’t understand at all. They’d said they were here for him, and he thought, why? Be here for each other. Be here for Melinda and everyone else I’ve hurt. Don’t be here for me.

He couldn’t find Jiaying’s ledger. Daisy or Mack must have taken it. He wanted to go through the names of all the people he killed, see how many families he’d robbed of loved ones and maybe do something for them. But then he realised, what could he possibly do for them? Why would they want anything to do with him? Lincoln didn’t. They’d bumped into each other in the kitchen when Andrew decided he couldn’t put off eating any longer. Lincoln had been polite-ish, though he hadn’t said much, but he made it clear that he didn’t trust Andrew, didn’t particularly like him, and he’d be keeping an eye on him. It was clear in the looks Lincoln gave him. He had very expressive looks.

Andrew didn’t blame Lincoln for feeling that way, and it was easier to deal with than people wanting to take care of him. It was hard to protect people when they kept following you around to make sure you were okay. That was mostly Melinda, and she didn’t really follow him around. She thought he needed space so she let him go off by himself sometimes, but she always managed to find him. And she kept insisting that everything would be okay; that he didn’t have to do this by himself; that she’d help. She must mean about the unknown superpowers thing. It was like she completely trusted that Lash was long gone and Andrew was back to normal. It wasn’t like her. She should be asking questions and making sure Lash wouldn’t jump out of him and kill anyone else. But then he was running off and not talking, which was unlike him and maybe not the best idea, so he shouldn’t complain about people behaving out of character.

He supposed it was nice that he and Lash were so easily separable to her; that she looked at him and knew that Lash was gone. But it wasn’t that simple. He and Lash _weren’t_ that easily separable. At first he thought that others agreed, the way they looked at him. Especially Daisy and Mack. But they were just afraid that Lash was still lurking in him somewhere. Mack was cautious by nature and Daisy was just second-guessing herself. It was Lash they were afraid of, not him. They didn’t understand exactly what happened, how it felt. Well, Mack might. Maybe he should talk to Mack. But Mack was the director, not Andrew’s psychiatrist.

The divide between Andrew and Lash had never been clear in his head. As soon as he came out of the cocoon he was different. He was thinking thoughts that weren’t his, doing things that he didn’t want to do but _did_ want to do. Maybe he was being controlled or used but he always felt like him. He convinced himself that it was him, or maybe Lash convinced him. It didn’t matter either way. When he remembered everything he- _Lash-_ did, it still felt like him. He didn’t know how to explain that to anyone.

“Andrew?”

He blinked. He’d been sitting in Joey’s old room, staring into his tea and getting so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Melinda standing in front of him. She sounded like she’d said his name a few times.

“Hi.”

“It’s late. Are you coming to bed, or…?”

He had planned to sleep in here. The room was secure so he didn’t need to worry about hurting anyone while he slept.

“I’m going to finish my tea. You go ahead, get some rest. I’ll be there in a bit.”

He hadn’t slept at all the previous night, so he knew Melinda hadn’t either. Hopefully if he told her not to wait up she wouldn’t and she’d get some sleep. Obviously he couldn’t hide out here all night. She’d wake up and come looking for him again. He’d have to join her before that happened. He just wouldn’t sleep. That way he could make sure she was safe from him and he wouldn’t be keeping her awake.

She looked like she might argue or stay with him instead, but she went. He did as he promised and joined her once he’d finished his tea.

He tiptoed into her room and changed in the dark. As he crawled into bed she rolled over and reached for him. He let her arm settle around his middle and forced himself to relax as she curled into him, realising she wasn’t quite asleep and not wanting to wake her further.

It was hard not to relax. He always felt safe with her, even now when he wasn’t safe to be with. It felt like old times, when they were both exhausted and frustrated after a long day and they would fall into bed and not talk or anything just lay together in a clumsy knot of limbs until they fell asleep.

He woke up in a cold sweat. It took him a minute to realise that he’d fallen asleep. Right; this was Melinda’s room and it was exactly how he’d found it when he went to bed. He looked down at Melinda deep in sleep next to him and shuddered at the damage he dreamt he’d caused. It was a bad idea to stay here. He crept out of the room and wandered around the base until he found what he was looking for; the tank that had contained Lash. He locked himself in and crawled into the tiny bed. It was lonely but he slept peacefully the rest of the night, knowing everyone was safe.

 

Melinda slept in. That was okay. She was still up earlier than most of the others. Andrew had already left. She tried not to be too concerned. It was normal that he wouldn’t sleep much for a while. He probably went to take a shower. After Bahrain she used to just stand under the hot water until it got cold. Then she’d sit on the floor in her bathrobe until the hot water came back and do it again. She wouldn’t chase him around, but she wasn’t going to let him isolate himself from everyone forever. She knew it wouldn’t help.

She got up, did her Tai Chi, had some breakfast and went to look for him. She checked Joey’s old room first, since he seemed to like it in there, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t in the rec room either, or in the archives (he liked reading all that old stuff). She couldn’t help but feel concerned then. Daisy was up and about; she hadn’t seen him either. Now Daisy was concerned.

“I’ll help you look for him,” she said. “Should I get Mack?”

“There’s no need for a search party. He probably just doesn’t want to be found for a while. He’ll show up when he’s ready. It’s just…”

“Something could have happened to him,” Daisy finished for her. “Maybe his powers showed up.”

“I just need to make sure he’s okay.”

“I’ll help you look.”

Melinda headed to the basement. There was no reason for Andrew to be down there other than nobody liked going down there, so it was perfect if you wanted to be alone. She flicked on the light and went to the tank in the back of the room. Peering through the window she saw Andrew sleeping on the bed. He woke up when she unlocked it and stepped inside.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. She could tell he was stalling to think of an easy answer. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“How come?”

Andrew heaved a sigh and shrugged. Melinda went and sat next to him. “Nightmares?”

He nodded. “How can you be so sure that I’m back to normal?”

Melinda tilted her chin up in understanding. She figured he was worried about that, but it was nice to hear him bring it up. If he hadn’t, she would have had to, and she didn’t know how without sounding like she was scared of him or like she didn’t trust him.

“By normal you mean not Lash?”

He nodded. “I don’t feel like he’s gone.”

“You’ll probably feel like that for a while. But I know you, and I’m telling you he’s gone.”

He looked at her, tired and desperate. “You didn’t even know he was there.”

“Because he did a good job disguising himself as you and didn't let you talk to me. But that’s not happening now. Now you're talking to me. You're telling me what's bothering you. That’s a pretty good indication that he’s gone.”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don't know. There's too much we don't know for sure. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

He huffed out a laugh. “We don’t know what kind of Inhuman I am.”

“Yes we do. We just don’t know what your powers are yet.”

“Last time I wanted to kill Joey and Lincoln. And I tried to kill Alisha and so many others who didn't deserve it.”

“Is that what you want to do now?”

“Of course not.”

He was so quick and forceful with his answer that Melinda couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t surprised by his answer, but it was evidence that he hadn’t lost all faith in his own goodness. “Then you're good. We're safe. You didn't kill those people because that's the kind of Inhuman you are; Lash killed those people because that's the kind of monster he was. It had nothing to do with you or your Inhuman genes or your powers.”

“She’s right,” said Daisy as she appeared in the doorway. “These nightmares you’re having? That’s all they are; nightmares. I get that you’re scared you’ll hurt people, but that’s why I’m here. I’ll help you to not hurt people. But I can’t do that if you don't let me.”

“Yeah, I know how it works,” he said, sighing some more. “I _am_ a psychiatrist you know. Or I was.”

“Course you are,” said Melinda. “Listen, if you feel better sleeping in here, that’s fine. Just please don’t disappear like that again. This is SHIELD. We tend to assume the worst.”

“Deal.”

Melinda put her hand over his and cheered inwardly when he didn’t pull away. Daisy took that as her cue to leave.

“I’m sorry I shot you. And handcuffed you. And threw Bahrain in your face. And I’m sorry for whining at you after doing all that.”

Melinda wanted to repeat everything she'd just said; that it wasn't him who did that; he hadn't been himself; she was here for him; she wanted him to talk to her. But none of that seemed to be getting through. So she said, “I know. I forgive you.” Maybe that would help.

 

Andrew did his best not to hide that day but there wasn’t much for him to do. He cooperated with his psychiatrist, answered all her questions honestly, and took her feedback seriously. It was exhausting, being the one on the couch. It was kind of like the first time he’d seen one and becoming painfully aware of how much stuff he had to unpack. He didn’t like being the one on the couch, but he couldn’t imagine being the one with the clipboard again anytime soon.

He went through his notes that he’d written when Lash had been using him, to see if there was anything he needed to change. He didn’t know if it was alarming or a relief how accurate the notes were. Either he’d been more present than he thought he had or Lash was a good judge of character. Granted he wasn’t in the best frame of mind yet to judge the usefulness of these notes, but he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t recognize a decent analysis.

“You should still have Doctor Nnamani look them over.”

“I will,” Mack assured him. “I just wanted your perspective, now that you’re not sharing it with, well, you know. I have a feeling Nnamani’s opinion won’t be much different.”

Andrew was a little surprised that Mack had no problem with him wandering freely around the base immediately after being possessed by a couple of alien entities, and was perfectly comfortable accepting his judgement of other Inhumans. He understood Daisy’s acceptance. He could even understand Melinda’s acceptance under the circumstances. But Mack was in charge of the alien stuff for a reason, and apparently Andrew wasn’t a concern. Melinda’s talk with him had abated his anxiety but Mack had more or less put a lid on it. He still had that fear in his gut where Lash used to live, but his mind was his own again. Lash no longer lurked there. He could think clearly. Of course the guilt wasn’t gone but he understood it for what it was. It was guilt that didn’t rightfully belong to him but was stuck with anyway. He’d just have to deal with it.

He decided to go find Melinda and… he didn’t know; watch her work or get her to help him with lunch. He felt bad for running from her. He thought she might appreciate it if he sought her out for once.

As he walked down the hallway his hands started tingling like pins and needles. He brought them together and tried to pinch and squeeze the feeling back into them. That’s when he noticed the blue glow flowing through the lines on his palms.

He stopped abruptly and stared at his hands, feeling as though he were holding a bomb. That was how he panicked. His body worked on automatic or stopped working at all, and his head went dizzy as his brain calmly asserted that he was going to die. He knew he wasn’t going to die, but he was panicking; his brain didn’t care what he knew.

He was standing by the lab window. Jemma saw him and poked her head out of the doorway. “Doctor Garner? Is everything alright?”

“Um…”

He lowered his hands slightly. She stepped closer. Her eyes widened when she saw the blue coursing through his hands. “I’ll get Daisy.”

“I’ll be in Joey’s old room.”

 

Even though he didn’t think he’d practice ever again, he found it useful to be in his patient’s shoes rather than just imagine himself in them. Sitting on the bed while Daisy and Mack did their spiel, he felt like he was brand new to all this. He understood where that hopeless feeling came from. Of course he did have to account for the fact that he wasn’t new. He’d worked with super powered individuals before. He’d seen the progress Daisy had made and how she’d helped Joey. He knew SHIELD and all the people here. And he had Melinda at his side. He didn’t feel hopeless; just scared. It seemed like he’d been running on nothing but fear for ages.

“So what exactly is going on here?” Andrew asked, unfolding his hands to show the blue that was still running in the lines. He’d been keeping his hands pressed together as though to prevent anything from spilling out of them.

“Bobbi and Jemma said that Lash absorbed and converted energy,” Daisy explained. “We’re thinking that’s-“ she pointed at his hands- “just visible energy.”

Andrew frowned. “So, Lash isn’t gone? Or did he leave his powers behind?”

“I think those were always your powers. Lash was a parasite that came with them and controlled them for you. I killed the parasite. Now you just have the powers, like every other Inhuman.”

He looked from Daisy to Mack, who was going over some notes on his clipboard, to Melinda, who smiled encouragingly. “You’re all remarkably calm. These powers are lethal, remember?”

“They were lethal when Lash was using them, but we don’t have to deal with him anymore. They’re all yours now. I think we can trust you with them. And you know what? Lash didn’t seem to have any trouble using those powers ad they weren’t even his. I don’t think we’ll need to do a lot of work.”

Andrew wanted to pursue all his usual arguments and concerns but he knew what they’re response would be and he wanted to believe them. So he just said, “Okay. How do we start?”

“Let’s start small. Maybe with light. Can you use your finger as a laser pointer?”

“Sure.” He considered his hand for a moment, and turned it into a fist with his index finger sticking up. He looked back up at Daisy. “How do I do that?”

“I don’t know. They’re your powers. You’ll just have to experiment until something happens. Can you feel the energy in your hands?”

“Yes. It feels like pins and needles.”

“Try to channel it into your fingertip. Concentrate on what you want to do and do whatever feels right to make it happen.”

He unfolded his hand and watched the light running through the lines on his palms. He was aware of Mack escorting Melinda out of the way to watch from the back of the room. He wiggled his fingers once, trying to get a feel for how the energy traveled. He concentrated on the spots where the energy moved and directed it upwards until it pooled at his fingertip. Then he forced it through. It was more like a flashlight than a laser, but it was close enough. Daisy and Melinda were beaming and Mack had that accomplished smirk on his face.

“Awesome,” Daisy said. “Now make it narrower. You’ve seen laser pointers, right? Make it one little dot.”

Andrew imagined that his fingertip was the size of the tip of a pen until he managed what Daisy was asking for. Then he drew the light back in until it had retreated completely, as though he had swallowed it. His hands were blank again.

“See?” said Daisy. “That took no time at all. You’ll get the hang of this no problem.”

Andrew looked at Melinda again. She was biting her lip to keep from smirking boastfully.

“Can we keep going?” he asked.

“Absolutely.”

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” said Mack as he made his exit.

“I’d like to stay for a while, if that’s okay,” Melinda said.

“Sure. How about…” Daisy looked around the room for something she could use. She went to one of the lamp tables and ripped a few pages out of the notepad resting on it. She crumpled the pages into a ball. “Let’s see if you can feel energy sources other than your own. I’m going to throw this in any direction but yours and you have to try and draw it towards you. Ready?”

“Yep.”

She threw it up in the air. Instinctively he shot his arm out. There was a small flash of blue light from his hand like the flash of from a camera, and the ball of paper shot backwards.

“Well, you affected it,” said Daisy. “It was a good try. This time think about what you want to do first. I’ll throw it when you’re ready.”

Andrew clenched and unclenched his fist, imagining sucking something towards him with it, like pulling something out of a straw. “Ready.”

Daisy chucked the paper ball behind her. Andrew’s arm shot out again. It took some effort. He managed to slow it down but it reached the ground before he was able to pull it towards him. But he did eventually have the paper in his hand without having to go and pick it up.

Melinda was grinning at him. He smiled back.

“Good,” said Daisy. “Let’s do it again.”

 

Andrew learned a couple of things from that session. One was that he didn’t have an endless supply of energy, so he had to keep plenty of snacks on hand if he didn’t want to burn out. The second was that Lash was well and truly gone. Andrew had spent the entire afternoon playing with paper and light bulbs and matches. Just harmless party tricks. No one got hurt (well, he made himself dizzy and hungry but he knew better now). He hadn’t wanted to do anything else.

He slept easily that night. Melinda thought she would too but she had a nightmare about Bahrain. Of all the times to have one of those again she had to have one the night Andrew improved. She didn’t leave the room like she would have years ago. She wasn’t going to do that anymore. Andrew would want to help and she was going to let him this time. She wasn’t going to wake him up though. She didn’t need that kind of help; just a comforting presence. She rolled over so that she was facing him.

He was still asleep. Blue lines shimmered across his face and hands like the shadows that crawled across the walls at night when cars passed the windows. She was concerned at first, but he was calm nothing was being disturbed. This must be another visible energy thing.

She touched her finger to his cheek gently as a line shimmered underneath it. It didn’t feel like anything; just a little warm.

He stirred. She took her hand away and waited for him to wake up.

He yawned and rolled onto his side, facing her. “Hi.”

“Hi. You were glowing again.”

“Oh. Did I wake you?”

“No. It was pretty.”

“When am I not?”

Melinda huffed a laugh through her nose.

"What woke you up?" he asked.

"Just a nightmare."

He reached over and brushed a straw lock of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He ran his thumb across her cheekbone once before drawing his hand back.

“I was dreaming about Hawaii,” he said.

Melinda sighed wistfully. “I loved Hawaii.”

“Wanna go back?”

“No. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Andrew slid his hand over to hers where they were tucked under her chin. “Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t care.”

“I don’t I’ll be cleared to leave right away. We might be stuck here for a while.”

She wrapped her hand around his and moved closer so that their joined hands were trapped between their chests and her head was tucked under his chin. They always ended up in these awkward, uncomfortable positions, but they never noticed that they were awkward or uncomfortable.

“I don’t care.”

Andrew disengaged his hands from hers and wrapped his arms around her instead, allowing her to press even closer. They talked about the next vacation they’d like to take as soon as SHIELD allowed them until they fell asleep.

 


End file.
